Step Into 2020 with Clarity & Confidence in Your Music Career

This post is sponsored by our friends at the Rock/Star Advocate

Building a career in music is hard. With all of the various skill sets one needs to have - financial management, fan engagement, graphic design, email marketing - not to mention focusing on the actual craft of making music, it’s no wonder so many independent musicians are completely overwhelmed with their day-to-day, especially when there may be a day job to consider.

It may all be hard, but it doesn’t have to feel impossible. With a little structure and some tools that not only help you get clear on your goals but allow you to stay focused on reaching those goals, you can begin to see real progress.

In 2016, The Rock/Star Advocate created the first Rock/Star Life Planner to help music professionals keep track of their goals and find a healthier work/life balance. Sonicbids has created an exclusive offer with The Rock/Star Advocate to purchase your own copy of the new 2020 Rock/Star Life Planner with a discount code for 30% off PLUS free shipping!*

Now, in its fifth edition, feedback from 100s of musicians and industry professionals has helped the planner evolve into something you can use daily to overcome common hurdles as you build a sustainable career in music.

Networking and follow-ups

One of the biggest things that causes musicians to miss out on opportunities is a lack of follow-up. Even the best pitches can get lost in the shuffle and when industry professionals fall behind on their emails, a simple follow-up can make all the difference.

The 2020 Rock/Star Life Planner includes weekly reminders to not only determine what your request will be for the current week (i.e. book a show, ask for an introduction, have fans follow you on Spotify) but to also follow-up with requests from previous weeks.

There’s also space to determine three relationships that you’d like to grow in the coming week to ensure you’re consistently nurturing your contacts without the overwhelm of having to constantly network. Reaching out to three people each week to either connect with for the first time or build the connection further can do wonders for your building your network.

Planning out social media

One of the first things most musicians want to offload onto someone else is their social media. It can feel extremely overwhelming to manage multiple channels while trying to build engagement around ever-changing algorithms and new “best strategies.”

When you can plan ahead and find ways to integrate your daily life into your posts (something that will also increase fan engagement), you’ll never struggle with what to post and you’ll develop better consistency in your posting.

Within the weekly planning sections, the 2020 Rock/Star Life Planner provides space not only to map out what you’ll post, but also alerts you to national and international days that are trending, such as #NationalTacoDay or #NationalSiblingsDay, and provide you with the correct hashtag to use in your post so you can get in on the conversations!

Tracking and analyzing finances

Money management is a stressful but necessary skillset that any musicpreneur needs to master in order to grow their business. Knowing what’s coming in and what’s going out is the easiest way to have a clear snapshot of how you’re doing financially.

In the back of the 2020 Rock/Star Life Planner, a financial spreadsheet is provided to track all revenue and expenses by category, making it easier during tax time to report your earnings and losses.

In addition, the back of the planner provides blank pages for writing lyrics or journaling, space to plan out long-term goals, and a list of exclusive digital downloads (including a more in-depth finance-tracking spreadsheet) that you can access to stay organized and automate more of your tasks.

Making time for self-care

Reaching your goals doesn’t matter if you’re not well enough to enjoy the fruits of your labor. The key to sustainable success is building a career that allows for some semblance of a work/life balance.

Productivity experts have agreed for years that the best way to reach your goals faster and more consistently is to ensure you’re healthy and well-rested. Even airplanes promote the Oxygen Mask Principle because it’s the safest way to survive any unexpected turbulence - put your mask on first before helping anyone else.

Each week, the 2020 Rock/Star Life Planner prompts you to plan out your self-care. It also enables you to track healthy habits and rate your success each week in the Weekly Review sections.

Finding accountability

DIY ≠ Do It Alone and no one reaches their goals without a support system and team to help them get there. You may not be able to hire people on your team yet, but with the 2020 Rock/Star Life Planner you’ll gain access to an entire community of support with access to the private Facebook group - The Rock/Star Collective.

Weekly Facebook lives teaching lessons on productivity, prompts to share your latest projects, and an engaged network of fellow musicpreneurs allow you to realize you’re not in this alone. Get over humps in your week more easily with a network of people who get what you’re going through.

Ready to stop the guesswork and find more structure in your day-to-day? Ready to get clarity on what you want from your career and how you’ll get started? Head on over to bit.ly/sonicplanner and use code SONICBIDS at checkout for 30% off + free shipping!

*Please know this offer is only available to planners shipped within the U.S. International orders can be done through Amazon.